Vivek Wadwha, writing for TechCrunch, rebuts Guy's assertion that engineering degrees are most important.
Engineering degrees can be very technical and can actually narrow one’s horizons. To innovate, you need to understand customers and markets. To build a successful product—one that actually sells and makes an impact, you need to understand distribution and finance. So even in the lower echelons of technology, a broader educational background is a plus.
The truth is, the fastest path between two points is a straight line. When I go to college campuses to try to pass along stuff I wished I knew back in college, the #1 thing was that I wish I spent more time *creating* and less time *analyzing* startups and markets.
I do meet engineers who probably should get an MBA. They need to round themselves out, think more about users and markets and distribution. Get out of the lab or cubicle. These are the minority.
I meet far more people with a will and a dream, but no engineering/design capability to create it. This is why Guy is right when he says an engineering background is far more essential.
Kawasaki explained that his issue with MBAs is that they are “taught that the hard part is the analysis and coming up with the insightful solution”. In other words: implementation is easy and analysis is hard. “But this is the opposite of what happens in startups. Implementation is everything in a startup.”
Indeed, ideas are merely multipliers on execution. Everyone has ideas. We can all imagine a world where ____ is made better. But to make that dream a reality, ah, that is the rub. And that is why Guy is right.